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The Iris Cover 135_Iris cover 28/10/2019 08:10 Page 1 ISSN 1757-2991 RPS Nature Group Residential Weekend 2020 Foxlease, New Forest Foxlease Girlguiding Activities Centre, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7DE Friday 16th - Monday 19th October 2020 S Leader: James Foad LRPS P R E H T F O P U O R G E 9 R 1 U 0 T 2 A r e N t E n i H W T / F 5 O 3 E 1 . N I James Foad LRPS, the organiser of this event, is now accepting bookings on a first come first served o Z N basis for the 2020 Autumn residential Weekend to be held at Foxlease Girlguiding Activities Centre, A e Lyndhurst, Hampshire. Foxlease combines the classic charm of a Georgian Manor House and the beauty G u A of the surrounding area of the New Forest. All rooms are en-suite. s s I M I am told by Heather Angel that it is quite some time ago that the Nature Group stayed here. There will be opportunities to photograph a wide range of fungi, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. S The cost for the for Single room occupancy is £310.00 I A deposit of £125.00 is required to secure your place For further details please contact: R James Foad LRPS I Tel: 07834 – 810430 E E-mail: [email protected] H T The Iris Cover 135_Iris cover 28/10/2019 08:10 Page 2 RPS Nature Group Summer Residential weekend Skomer Island and Margam Discovery Centre Wednesday 24th June to Monday 29th June 2020 James Foad LRPS, the organiser of this event, is now accepting bookings for the 2020 Summer Residential weekend which is going to be slightly different to previous years! Participants should book their own accommodation for the nights of 24th and 25th June in the Martin Haven area. On 26th June there is a visit to Skomer Island at a cost of £11.00 per person. However the boat trip to the island is weather dependent. The photographs, from the top: After visiting Skomer we move on to Margam Discovery Centre for the rest of the weekend. Harlequin Wrasse, Finch and Marine Iguana, Diver at the Secret Cave and Sunrise behind the Wolf volcano, Isabela. 16 places are available on a first come first served basis. Once the places are filled a waiting list will be opened. Cost for the weekend is: £175.77 for Margam, plus £11.00 for the boat plus your accommodation and meals for the first two days. A deposit of £75.77 is required to secure your booking. For further details and to book call James Foad LRPS on 07834 810430 or email: [email protected]. The Iris 135 p 1-5_Layout 1 14/10/2019 20:39 Page 1 Contents Publication information ‘The Iris’ is published by the RPS Nature Group three 2 Editorial times a year. Copy and publication dates are as fol- lows: 3 From the Chair Spring Copy deadline 8th December Published mid March. Summer Copy deadline 30th April 6 The Riches of my Back Garden Published early July. By John Bebbington FRPS Winter Copy deadline 31st August Published early November. 10 My Road to Recovery All contributions should be submitted to the Editor. Items covering any aspect of nature photography An interview with Trevor Parsons and/or natural history are welcomed, including re- views on equipment and relevant books. The Editor 12 Delights of the S’Albufera de Mallorca can be contacted at: [email protected] by Ann and Phil Miles Copy should be sent as .txt or .doc files by email or wetransfer.com. Please do not send hand written copy. Digitally captured photographic images are preferred 17 Entry Form for 2020 Members’ Exhibition of Prints but scanned transparencies are also acceptable. Im- and Digital Images ages (whether vertical or horizontal) should be supplied on CD or via WeTransfer.com as flattened 8bit sRGB Tiff files, 6” x 4” at 300 pixels per inch (1800 x 1200 22 Slapton Ley Residential Weekend, pixels, file size approx 6.17MB). Please do not send 2nd – 5th August 2019 larger images. Larger files may be needed for the cover. by James Foad LRPS No payment will be made for material used and whilst every care will be taken, neither the Editor, the Nature 26 Nature Group Meetings – Group or the Printers can accept liability for any A Good Start but Your Help Needed damage that may occur to photographic material submitted. by Ann Miles FRPS, Programme Co-ordinator The views expressed within The Iris are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the 30 The Photographers’ Nirvana: the Galapagos Islands views of the Nature Group Committee or the Editor. by Josef Litt Distribution: ‘The Iris’ is forwarded to members using address la- bels produced by the RPS Membership Dept in Bath. Any member not receiving their copy should contact that department so that their name appears on a label in the future. The Secretary will be pleased to post single copies to members who have failed to re- ceive them. Copyright: © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright holder. © Photographs and articles - individual contributors. All other material the Nature Group of the Royal Photographic Society. Printed by Partridges UK Eagle Avenue, Magnetic Park, Desborough, Northants, NN14 2WD Cover image Design & layout Marsh Helleborine by Duncan Locke LRPS by Gerald Griffin ARPS The Iris - Winter 2019 1 The Iris 135 p 1-5_Layout 1 25/10/2019 11:43 Page 2 Committee Editorial Officers I have plenty of hobbies to keep me busy! Chairman: Thomas Hanahoe FRPS Email: [email protected] Photography is clearly one of them and another is Vice Chairman: David O’Neill LRPS walking. I am a keen member of the local Ramblers Email: [email protected] group and have spent many enjoyable afternoons this Secretary: Duncan Locke LRPS summer in the Midlands countryside and as a result, I E-mail: [email protected] get to see a lot of farmland. It is encouraging to see Treasurer: David O’Neill LRPS Email: [email protected] that many farmers are setting aside corners and strips Immediate Past Chairman: Kevin Elsby FRPS of field for wildlife to flourish. Recently I was walking Email: [email protected] along the Staffordshire Way across a field where at least 10 metres had been left uncultivated by the Committee Members hedge. The area was alive with butterflies and bees Editor of The Iris: Gerald Griffin ARPS and the sound of songbirds singing came from the Email: [email protected] hedgerow. Some farmers are also letting small fields Exhibition Secretary: Ralph Snook ARPS and those that are difficult to cultivate return to E-mail: [email protected] nature. How pleasant it is to walk through an upland NG Rep to Advisory Panel: David O’Neill LRPS Email: [email protected] meadow with umpteen varieties of wild flowers Programme Co-ordinator: Ann Miles FRPS supporting a wide variety of insects. I congratulate E-mail: [email protected] the farmers who give over part of their production to Webmaster: Ralph Snook ARPS wildlife and those, such as the RSPB, who do so much E-mail: [email protected] to support them. However this is not a consistent eNewsletter Editor: Dawn Osborn FRPS Email: [email protected] picture and there are places where I have walked this Stan Saunders ARPS summer where there is field after field of grass with no Email: [email protected] flowers, insects or bird song. I know that the set-aside Julia Andrew LRPS means lost production but the small rise in food costs Email: [email protected] would be a small price to pay to see more wildlife and James Foad LRPS Email: [email protected] I believe most people would agree. Julia Wainwright ARPS Some of you living in the south will probably have Email: [email protected] already heard of Trevor Parsons, one of our members, through the radio, television and magazines. I hope Ex officio Committee members you enjoy reading my interview with him in this edition. President of the Society; If any of our readers has a story to tell about a Vice-President of the Society; distinction that has been gained, please contact me Director General of the Society; Hon. Treasurer of the Society; and I will get you into print! Chairman of the Nature A & F Distinctions Panel I am very grateful once again to Dawn Osborn FRPS for all her hard work proof reading this edition of Nature Group Exhibitions The Iris and for her valuable help in a final edit of its CDs/DVDs of Nature Group Exhibitions are available for purchase contents. by camera clubs/photographic societies for use in their prgramme. Please contact the Exhibition Secretary, details above. Enjoy your photography and please put pen to paper and write an article for the next edition of The Iris. 2 The Iris - Winter 2019 The Iris 135 p 1-5_Layout 1 25/10/2019 11:47 Page 3 From the chair CLIMATE CHANGE Introduction than 0.5°C above in the south-west. Rainfall was 114% Not for the first time over recent years, last month in of average, but was very variable across the country, Bedfordshire we experienced a period of exceptionally with below-average rainfall over most of Wales and the hot weather while further north there was severe south-west, but more than twice the normal amount flooding.